Poll: Just 36 Percent Of Americans Believe They Are Overweight, Although 66 Percent Actually Are

File photo of an obese patient being weighed on a scale. According to a new study, breath may indicate obesity as well as a recorded number of pounds. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

LANHAM, Md. (WNEW) — Well, someone has got to be wrong here.

About 66 percent of Americans are considered overweight or obese by modern health standards, but the majority (55 percent) do not believe they are overweight and say they are not trying to drop the pounds, a recent Gallup poll says.

Meanwhile, of the 36 percent of people who say they are too heavy, only half are actively trying lose weight.

Another 8 percent of people say they are not overweight but are trying to lose weight, anyway.

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an adult with a Body Mass Index between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and an adult with a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

Overall, 60 percent of men and 50 percent of women told Gallup surveyors that they are neither overweight nor trying to lose weight. Meanwhile, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) says two-thirds of Americans are overweight or even obese.

Men and young people are more likely to be satisfied with their weight, per the poll results.

Among Americans aged 18 to 34, 68 percent said that they are neither overweight nor trying to lose weight. Only 51 percent of people aged 35 to 54 and 47 percent of people 55 and older said the same.

And women are more likely to say they are “very” or “somewhat” overweight compared with men. Twenty-one percent of women, in fact, said they are overweight and trying to lose weight.

That’s significantly higher than the 15 percent of men who said the same.

Interesting, since Gallup research has also shown that men are more likely than women to be overweight or obese.

The discrepancies pointed out by the research “may suggest that addressing the obesity crisis in America must first start by convincing overweight Americans that they are indeed overweight,” the study says.